You know what would make sense? Insurance premiums going to the government as a medical tax, medical procedures funded by this āfeeā - which is paid and enforced now anyway, and profit going back into medical facilities and programs first, and the general pool next. There is no need or place for private organisations to be making squillions off the hard work of the everyday person - fark them and everything about them.
I think the leg holster and vests were designed in acknowledgment of the issues with belts and the associated paraphernalia that you need to carry. It would be an interesting stat to see the the amount of claims and injuries linked to belts.
Back in the day, I was the young electoral assistant that sat in on the discussions for our Universal Health scheme (Medibank), loosely based on National Health in UK.
The plan was all health and dental would be free, and all paid for by a levy. All hospitals would be nationalised and all doctors would become public servants on a salary. There would be no private health insurance and few private hospitals. There was not much disagreement in house, but consultation with the AMA did not go well.
It was not exactly an issue of money, as the Doctors salary range was based on the Judiciary with most doctors paid equivalent of Judges, who I think at that time were paid about $80,000, which was more than the top specialists were getting at that time.
Anyway never happened as most Doctors hated the concept of socialised medicine taking away their choice of picking their own patients.
Health costs in Australia are heading down the USA path, and if health provision went the same way as LNP want then private health insurance is necessary and expensive, and unaffordable
One of the current problems is the definition/ categorisation of elective surgery. The pain factor is not given sufficient weighting and this can have severe knock- on effects on physical and mental health. When the brain is forced to concentrate on managing pain that could be corrected by surgical intervention, relationships and capacity to function in a working or social environment deteriorate . In some cases, the longer the queue for elective surgery may lead to irreparable damage.
I guess I donāt post enough for people to realise I am sarcastic 99% of the time.
FWIW I think the private health system is a scouge on society and for every day we move closer to a US-style health system is a day closer to the end of the free world. This paragraph is not sarcasm.
(Iām not going to Bali in a weekās time, but I am going VIA there.)
Currently in a game of ādo you feel lucky, punk?ā as insurance only partially covers the cost of rebooking a different route (and it may be a lot less partially if i wait to see if the airport remains open on the day!)
Flying to Maldives last week, there is a queue for people who have already checked in online for bag drop and a queue for those that have not. Bagdrop line super short, other line had about 100 people in. Guy in front of us at Bagdrop line gets to counter and says āYeh I havenāt checked in online, but Iām not queuing up that longā
AND SHE STILL SERVES HIM?!?!?! Why not say āMate go to the back of the line and do what everyone else is doingā.